food fanatic.bookaholic.mommy

This week I met my friend Rebekah for lunch at Izzy’s in Cambridge. I walk there from my office in Kendall Square proper, and it was about a 10-15 minute walk. It was a really nice day out and the walk helped me release some work related stress. I had read a lot about Izzy’s on Chowhound.com in the Kendall Square lunch thread.

Izzy’s is a small corner mom & pop sub shop that serves standard subs along with a number of Puerto Rican specialties. There are 10 or so tables to dine at but you place your order at the counter. Its very casual and the tables have Puerto Rico place mats under a layer of lucite and there are other homey, ethnic touches on the wall.

We opted to share a number of the side dishes. We got the beef turnover, Jamaican patty, fish cake and sweet plantains. We also tried to order the cassava with garlic but they were all out. The order plus 2 soft drinks cost us under $10.

Beef Turnover and Jamaican Patty

Izzy’s is not the place to go for a healthy lunch, but if you are looking for stick to your ribs comfort food, this is your place. All of our food is a bit on the greasy side, but I had the walk to and from work to burn some of it off, so why not??

Our favorite was the Jamaican patty, which was a flaky crust filled with spiced ground meat. The beef turnover was quite similar but smaller. The plantains were nice and sweet, but also on the greasy side. The only dud from our order was the fish cake. Which was like fried dough with chunks of white fish in it. It was very oily and the dough was really crisp and the fish chunks were few and far between.

Fish Cake & Sweet Plantains

I will definitely be back, maybe dragging a couple brave coworkers who don’t mind a walk. Next time I will try their goat stew or tripe soup and a homemade ginger beer.